Well, if we want to apply actual logic to the attacks, we’re starting down a very slippery slope. Why didn’t they drop bombs on the alien ship? They could have dropped 20 times the weight of the explosives carried in the warheads of the AAMs. And where were all the land, air, and ship based cruise missiles? And then, there’s artillery, and MLRS, and Og knows what else might have been thrown at the aliens without risking the pilots and planes.
Oh yeah, and how is it that the old Jewish dad knew about the aliens in Area 51 but the President didn’t?
Also, how was it that the US, which has a larger air force then most of the rest of the world put together, supposedly had lost 80% of its fighters before the final attack, but somehow there were enough planes left… everywhere? … to knock out all of the remaining invading alien ships.
I hesitate bringing these up, because I don’t actually think fixing these irrationalities would have significantly improved the movie.
And the uber hacker would be played by, oh, say, Terry Bradshaw. (There is an uber hacker, right? I haven’t seen the movie, but I understand there are computer viruses and guys jacking in with the cybercowboys in neurospace and stuff)
To add to that, after the alien fighter crashes, Will Smith walks up to it, opens the hatch, and the alien is… Boomer. Then the Fresh Prince says, “welcome to Earth”, and punches the golden retriever in the head.
At least it would mollify all those people who want to see the dog dead.
I pretty forgiving of plot holes in popcorn movies. I didn’t mind that they happened to have a bunch of planes left. I couldn’t get over how many civilian jet pilots there were in a small sample of refugees. And that they were able to learn how to fly F/A-18s so quickly. I guess modern fighters aren’t that complicated.
God, I hate it when Quaid’s character says that. Really wrecks what was kind of a moving moment. If he had delivered it with a determined or vengeful air, he could have sold me on it, but he went for cutesy instead, and it doesn’t work.
OK, for some reason, I completely forgot that Boomer was the name of the dog, and I just pictured Will Smith slugging Grace Park in the face. Which was an oddly amusing mental image.
Independence Day was an awesome movie. Other than replacing Data as the mad sscientist, what more could you want? But to each his own I guess. I couldn’t stand ET or Close Encounters and some people probably thought that they were the greatest movies ever.